About me
Jo Cormack, PhD
I am a qualified and registered therapist (with the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy) specialising in feeding dynamics and the feeding relationship. Put simply, my work is all about the psychology of how children eat and how we feed them.
Read more about my experience, training and qualifications below.
International Association for Pediatric Feeding and Swallowing (IAPFS) member: membership number: 44800
As a mother of three and a former foster carer, I understand the realities of family life. My approach is grounded in a realistic and practical take on feeding children.
I work responsively - everything I teach and everything I practice in my own work, is grounded in empathy and respect for children. I am also passionate about helping parents understand that they are not to blame for 'picky' or avoidant eating.
About My Responsive Approach
- I believe that the only way to work with feeding problems is to do so with compassion and empathy, always ensuring that the child's wellbeing is at the heart of the treatment plan. My approach is gentle and child-centred.
- I believe in the importance of respecting children's autonomy. Children are people. My approach never involves forcing a child to do something against their will.
- I believe that a positive feeding relationship needs to be at the centre of every treatment plan. I help parents transform mealtimes from a stressful battleground to relaxed and positive, allowing families to enjoy one another's company and connect over food, wherever the child may be on their eating journey.
- I believe that parents are the experts in their children. We need to listen to parental intuition and we need to leave judgement and blame at the door. It makes me sad when people describe eating issues as 'the parents' fault'. We are all just doing the best we can with the resources and information we have!
- I believe that every child is an individual and there is not a 'one size fits all' approach to eating. Every family is different too, and feeding interventions need to reflect this.
- I believe in keeping it real and as a mum of three, I understand what family life is actually like, in all its messy and chaotic wonderfulness ... my approach is grounded in my experience as a parent (and former foster-carer) and my strategies are realistic and achievable.
I am privileged to have contributed to the recent white paper outlining the values and practice of Responsive Feeding Therapy (RFT) with a team of international colleagues. You can read the full paper here. We define RFT as follows:
"Responsive Feeding Therapy (RFT) is an overarching approach to feeding and eating interventions applicable to multiple disciplines and across the lifespan. RFT facilitates the (re)discovery of internal cues, curiosity, and motivation, while building skills and confidence. It is flexible, prioritizes the feeding relationship, and respects and develops autonomy."
(Rowell, Wong, Cormack & Moreland, 2000)
My background and training
Having completed my Masters in Counselling at the University of Nottingham (UK) in 2007, I discovered a passion for the psychology of how children eat and how we feed them: as part of my MA, I undertook a year-long clinical training placement in the National Health Service (Newark CAMHS, UK) primarily working therapeutically with young women with eating disorders. This focus on mealtime emotions and family dynamics got me thinking; my eldest daughter - now a teenager - was a young toddler and I started to analyse how she was learning to eat. And I began to read.
My passion for research grew and grew, culminating in a decision to embark upon a PhD in psychology (exploring parental feeding practices) which I was awarded in January, 2022. I love to make feeding research accessible to parents and I love carrying out my own research too. I recently published a paper in a peer reviewed journal (co-authored with Katja Rowell, MD and Gianina-Ioana Postavaru, PhD) about the application of self-determination theory to responsive feeding*. I also occasionally lecture and tutor on the psychology and counselling programmes at Bishop Grosseteste University, Lincoln, UK, as a Visiting Tutor.
Over the last decade I have worked with many families with children who have eating challenges; I have written a book for Early Years practitioners about how to support a positive relationship with food in school and daycare and have contributed a chapter about food and autism for a book for trainee teachers. I present at conferences and train feeding professionals internationally. As well as blogging regularly, I have written for many media outlets about feeding children.
I have developed my own responsive model - Emotionally Aware Feeding (EAF) - which I both teach and use in my own clinical work. It is highly adaptable and is therefore applicable to a wide range of feeding challenges, from developmentally normal 'picky eating' to Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID). In my clinical work, I draw heavily on my counselling background and psychology research, working with feeding dynamics and the relational aspects of feeding children.
*Cormack, J., Rowell, K., & Postăvaru, G. I. (2020). Self-Determination Theory as a Theoretical Framework for a Responsive Approach to Child Feeding. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior.